Close X
Thursday, November 14, 2024
ADVT 
International

Slammed Indian Grandfather Sureshbhai Patel Testifies At US Cop's Trial

Darpan News Desk IANS, 03 Sep, 2015 11:43 AM
    An Indian grandfather who was slammed down to the ground by an Alabama police officer while walking in his son's neighbourhood in February recalled the horrific encounter that left him badly injured.
     
    Sureshbhai Patel, 57, was called to the stand as the trial of former police office Eric Parker, 26, began in a Huntsville, Alabama federal court Wednesday.
     
    Parker is accused of using excessive force against an unarmed Patel and charged with violating his civil rights.
     
    Patel, according to local whnt.com,told the jury he went for a walk around the neighbourhood every morning, but stayed on the same street as his son's house and never went farther than ten or 11 houses away.
     
    He walked on the footpath next to the road and did not go to anybody's house or into anyone's yard on his walk.
     
    Patel said on the morning of the incident, he stopped when he heard shouting from behind him. He recognized the uniforms the men wore as police uniforms.
     
    He said he stopped when they shouted, but he could not understand them.
     
    He says he was only able to respond, "No English, no English."
     
    Patel said when the officer put his hand on him, he did not attempt to jerk or pull away.
     
    Shortly after that, the officer "put him on the grass." He said officers tried to lift him, but his hands and legs were numb.
     
     
    As a result of his injuries, he now has trouble walking and cannot care for his grandson, he told the jury.
     
    When the defence asked Patel why he did not carry identification or a card with his son's contact information on it, he replied that he was simply going for a short-distance morning walk and that there was no need for identification.
     
    Earlier, officer Charles Spence who was called to respond after Parker arrested Sureshbhai Patel, said Parker used a standard takedown move, the "front leg sweep" taught in the police academy.
     
    Spence said it's used when a subject is being combative, but he didn't observe Patel being combative.
     
    He also said this type of takedown is "high risk" and he wouldn't have handcuffed him in this circumstance.
     
    Prosecutors asked Spence if he saw anything that would have caused him to lay hands on Patel. "No sir, I didn't," Officer Spence replied.
     
    Parker had responded on a report of a suspicious person. The jury heard a recording of the dispatcher's call to police about a "black male" looking into garages there.
     
    Police dash cam video captured Parker slamming Patel to the ground, and jurors watched those videos in court.
     
    Throughout questioning, even in opening statements, Parker's lawyer, Robert Tuten, argued his client was doing what was necessary to "control the situation," which is a duty of a police officer in an uncertain situation.

    MORE International ARTICLES

    Legacy of Valour: Exhibition In Britain Recalling Indian Soldiers' Valour

    Legacy of Valour: Exhibition In Britain Recalling Indian Soldiers' Valour
    The contribution of Indian soldiers in the First World War will be commemorated at a special exhibition in Britain next month, a media report said on Wednesday.

    Legacy of Valour: Exhibition In Britain Recalling Indian Soldiers' Valour

    Indian-American Doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Cancer Documentary Gets Emmy Nomination

    Indian-American Doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Cancer Documentary Gets Emmy Nomination
    A documentary based on Pulitzer Prize winner and Indian American doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee's book on cancer has been nominated for an Emmy Award that recognises excellence in the television industry.

    Indian-American Doctor Siddhartha Mukherjee’s Cancer Documentary Gets Emmy Nomination

    Hate Crime: Indian American Man In New Jersey Attacked Viciously, Community Calls For Zero Tolerance

    Hate Crime: Indian American Man In New Jersey Attacked Viciously, Community Calls For Zero Tolerance
    The Indian community in New Jersey has issued a message of "zero tolerance" in the wake of continuing attacks on people of Indian origin in the neighbourhood, media reported on Wednesday.

    Hate Crime: Indian American Man In New Jersey Attacked Viciously, Community Calls For Zero Tolerance

    Fiji-Born Indian Girl Pooja Priyanka To Represent Australia In 'Miss Universal'

    Fiji-Born Indian Girl Pooja Priyanka To Represent Australia In 'Miss Universal'
    "I am both humbled and honoured to be representing my country Australia in the annual pageant in Dubai this 2015," Priyanka posted on Facebook, the Fiji Times reported.

    Fiji-Born Indian Girl Pooja Priyanka To Represent Australia In 'Miss Universal'

    Burglars Again Target Indian Homes In USA

    Burglars Again Target Indian Homes In USA
    After a burglary in an Indian American home in Texas, police fear that a crime ring that targeted people of Indian descent is back in action, the media reported on Tuesday.

    Burglars Again Target Indian Homes In USA

    Bloodstained Final Moments Of Indian-Origin British Man Baljit Singh Revealed

    Bloodstained Final Moments Of Indian-Origin British Man Baljit Singh Revealed
    Forensic scientist Hazel Johnson told the Wolverhampton Crown Court on Friday the victim, Baljit Singh, was stabbed with a knife before falling into the cellar at a property on Beeches Road, in Rowley Regis

    Bloodstained Final Moments Of Indian-Origin British Man Baljit Singh Revealed